Disability Week uses cartoons to show inclusiveness - News
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are doing their part to break down stereotypes about people with disabilities. Wheelchair-bound Timmy and "handi-capable" Jimmy Valmer, characters in the long-running Parker-Stone animated series "South Park," are accepted by their classmates as capable friends with positive attributes. This week, as Western Illinois University celebrates Disability Week with the theme "Transforming Perspectives," a presentation that will discuss how "South Park" and "Family Guy" help to perpetuate a spirit of inclusiveness will be among the highlights of a busy schedule of activities.Today at 2 p.m. in the Lincoln Room of the Union, former Paralympic athlete Matt Glowacki will give a talk entitled, "Diversity According to 'Family Guy' and 'South Park.'" According to a University press release, Glowacki "… will speak about how programs operating on the fringes of societal acceptance often have a more developed, logical and inclusive view of our society than the entities which seek a stranglehold on morality in our culture." Glowacki will offer an encore presentation at 7:30 p.m. this evening.On Friday at 11 a.m. in the Lincoln Room, educational and interdisciplinary studies professor Eric Mansfield will share anecdotes about his personal disability journey in his presentation entitled "We Are Not Alone."Disability Week will conclude with a unique event that Lauren Vansloten, a graduate student with Western's campus recreation department, hopes will be exciting for participants and spectators, as well as beneficial for a worthwhile cause.The event, the first Western-hosted Goalball Tournament, will feature co-ed teams comprised of three blindfolded individuals who must throw a volleyball-sized ball with a bell embedded inside it into their opponents' goal. Players will use the sound of the bell to determine the position and movement of the ball. Each game has two 12-minute halves. The tournament, to be held on the basketball courts at the Spencer Student Recreation Center, gets underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The entry fee is $5 per person, with all proceeds going to the Blinded Veterans Association.Fraternities and sororities, campus clubs and students from campus dormitories are invited to get together and form teams to compete. Prizes will be awarded to the winning team members. Registration forms are available at the Campus Recreation Office at Spencer, or online at www.campusrec.wiu.edu."This is the first year we're hosting the event, so we are really hoping for a good turnout," Vansloten said."Every year we try to put on an event to educate people on the sports available to individuals with disabilities," Vansloten added. "In the past we have hosted wheelchair basketball tournaments, and this year we wanted to host an event that is part of the Paralympics."to article)
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are doing their part to break down stereotypes about people with disabilities. Wheelchair-bound Timmy and "handi-capable" Jimmy Valmer, characters in the long-running Parker-Stone animated series "South Park," are accepted by their classmates as capable friends with positive attributes. This week, as Western Illinois University celebrates Disability Week with the theme "Transforming Perspectives," a presentation that will discuss how "South Park" and "Family Guy" help to perpetuate a spirit of inclusiveness will be among the highlights of a busy schedule of activities.Today at 2 p.m. in the Lincoln Room of the Union, former Paralympic athlete Matt Glowacki will give a talk entitled, "Diversity According to 'Family Guy' and 'South Park.'" According to a University press release, Glowacki "… will speak about how programs operating on the fringes of societal acceptance often have a more developed, logical and inclusive view of our society than the entities which seek a stranglehold on morality in our culture." Glowacki will offer an encore presentation at 7:30 p.m. this evening.On Friday at 11 a.m. in the Lincoln Room, educational and interdisciplinary studies professor Eric Mansfield will share anecdotes about his personal disability journey in his presentation entitled "We Are Not Alone."Disability Week will conclude with a unique event that Lauren Vansloten, a graduate student with Western's campus recreation department, hopes will be exciting for participants and spectators, as well as beneficial for a worthwhile cause.The event, the first Western-hosted Goalball Tournament, will feature co-ed teams comprised of three blindfolded individuals who must throw a volleyball-sized ball with a bell embedded inside it into their opponents' goal. Players will use the sound of the bell to determine the position and movement of the ball. Each game has two 12-minute halves. The tournament, to be held on the basketball courts at the Spencer Student Recreation Center, gets underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday. The entry fee is $5 per person, with all proceeds going to the Blinded Veterans Association.Fraternities and sororities, campus clubs and students from campus dormitories are invited to get together and form teams to compete. Prizes will be awarded to the winning team members. Registration forms are available at the Campus Recreation Office at Spencer, or online at www.campusrec.wiu.edu."This is the first year we're hosting the event, so we are really hoping for a good turnout," Vansloten said."Every year we try to put on an event to educate people on the sports available to individuals with disabilities," Vansloten added. "In the past we have hosted wheelchair basketball tournaments, and this year we wanted to host an event that is part of the Paralympics."to article)
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